david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >> glor: pentagon contractors aren't the only one in with a stake in this debate. 120,000 small contractors take part in the federal marketplace. a market worth $500 billion. lowell vant slot is scrambling to run every conceivable raanning scenario for 2013. he's the military contracts manager for u.s. technologies which does 60% of its business with the defense department. >> not knowing exactly what to expect is not a position anybody wants to be in because we're affecting people's lives here. we don't want to lay people off. >> we ran them all through. >> the $12 million new jersey based company makes parts in electronics for defense systems but with the potential for deep cuts in spending looming on january 2nd, orders from the military are slowing down. >> they were supposed to order 400 of something, so far they've ordered two. >> this year american companies made 36 million meals ready-to- eat or m.r.e.s. nine million combat uniforms, nearly a million pairs of combat boots. even the giants depend on thousands of smaller companies. 1,300 suppl